Tsunade kept smiling. Nestled in her arms, Nawaki listened to her gentle voice and soon fell asleep.
As Nawaki's breathing settled into an even rhythm, worry crept onto Tsunade's face.
Lately, Tsunade had often felt restless.
Even when she took walks in quiet places like this, she would think back to her Great-Grandfather, Hashirama Senju.
Ever since Hashirama died, Tsunade had felt as though she had become someone insignificant in the Senju Clan. No one cared about her.
The adults were all busy.
Grandma Mito was getting old, and her youngest uncle, Takekama, was in poor health, with something going wrong every few days.
Tsunade's adoptive mother had to help her adoptive father manage the Senju Clan and did not even have time to look after Nawaki.
Now, most of Nawaki's care fell to Tsunade, who was only six herself.
Tsunade had always believed Nawaki was her biological younger brother. She could never shake the feeling that everyone focused their attention on him while she was invisible.
Even as she grew older, nothing around her changed. Not even the Senju Clan elders around her were particularly close to her.
Tsunade was not entirely sure why.
Still, she supposed it was because she had been beside Great-Grandfather Hashirama when he died. Perhaps everyone blamed her for his death?
The more time passed, the more Tsunade disliked the people in her clan.
Especially those grandmothers in Third Grandfather's household. When she was younger, Tsunade had been unable to see anything wrong with their outward behavior. Now that she understood more, she could not bring herself to like them at all.
At the same time, Tsunade could not deny that she was a member of the Senju Clan, and so she began to dislike herself as well.
Still, her dislike had not gone